Captured
A/N: Well this chapter has a lot going on. So I hope you enjoy it, and I will try to get the next chapter up as soon as I possibly can.
I Do not own One Piece

The Marines surged forward like an angry mob, and collided head on with Whitebeard's crew. They were seriously outmatched, but that did not stop them. They had called for backups only moments before, and they had flaunted the fact in front of Whitebeard's crew. One of the Shichibukai were on their way.

'Mihawk, we have to get to the dock before the backup arrives. He will wipe out most of our crew. We are not ready to face such a large force!' Armistice called to her companion. 'There is no way we will last if he is indeed called. He will obliterate us!'

'Calm down!' Mihawk snapped, cutting through four Marines at a time. 'Focus on your primary task. Defeat the Marines and just keep surging forward! Do not let the threat of a Shichibukai scare you, and remember, we have Whitebeard on our side. He will be able to take out the Shichibukai in no time.'

Fear swept through Armistice like a tornado. Gritting her teeth she clutched her bo staff with rigid hands, and calculated her first opponents distance. 'I have faith in you Mihawk. But I pray to the lord that we will reach the docks before the Shichibukai has the chance to come.'

One of the Marines broke away from Mihawk and swung his blade high in the air. After mustering a whirlwind of force, he smashed his blade downwards towards Armistice's head, his blade cutting through the thin air surrounding her.

Armistice brought her staff upwards and blocked his attack. She ignored her wild red hair, which had blown into her face, before she swung her bo staff out from underneath the Marine's blade. As he stumbled off balance, she brought her weapon crashing down on his head, effectively knocking him to the ground in the process.

A couple of Marines nearby shouted out in horror for their fallen comrade. The three of them broke off from their battles to charge at her in unison. They brought their blades swinging through the air in perfect unison; aiming to kill, not to injure.

Surprised by their reaction, Armistice jumped back to dodge their blow, and noticed that they made every move at the same time. They never once differentiated their attacks from each other. Grinning, she took another step backwards. 'You guys rely on each other for your attacks. You should have developed a style that was unique, your teamwork would be much more effective.'

'Shut it, we work as a group. There is no one that can beat us when we work together.' The apparent leader of the group said, turning her nose up into the air before the group attacked Armistice again. This time however they took her advice, and each of the trio took a side, so that only her back was left unguarded by the two men and one woman.

Taking a breath to calm herself, Armistice cursed her momentary slip, and stupidity. She tried to jump back and dodge their attack once again, but they were too quick for her slow reaction, and so she was hit with the force of three blades in the back. Screaming in pain, her knees buckled, and she fell to the ground.

'See I told you that no one can defeat us while we are together.' The Marine woman poked her tongue out, and stood on Armistice's neck, cutting off her airways. 'Is there anything else you would like to say before you die a horribly slow and painful death, pirate?'

Armistice clutched at her bo staff tighter as the world around her started to go black from lack of oxygen. Closing her eyes, she blindly trusted her bo staff upwards, feeling a satisfying thump before the pressure to her neck was released. Not waiting for her captor to recover, she rolled over and jumped to her feet. While the trio were still off guard, she whacked them with her staff on the back of the legs, making them tumble to the blood soaked battlefield. She then hit them on the head to make sure they did not wake up any time soon.

From the left of Armisitce, one of the Marines let out a battle cry, and ran towards her. He was however cut off by one of Whitebeards crew, who was wielding a rather large hammer like weapon. He gave Armisitce the thumbs up and grinned.

Smiling, Armistice mouthed the words thank you, and then turned to find Mihawk. He was not at her side as he had promised, and when her eyes finally targetted his masculine form, she found that he was far away from her; beating up six Marines at a time with just one sword. Shaking her head, Armisitce did a head count of as many Marines as she could. To her surprise she found that they had multiplied in number; the reinforcements had finally come to help out their comrades.

Beside her, a gun was fired, and one of Whitebeard's crew members fell to the ground, crying out in agony. He clutched at his side, and curled himself into a tight ball on the ground. He did not move when his attacker walked over to stand above his shaking form. The Marine closed one of his eyes, and took aim.

Without thinking, Armisitce shot forward, and threw herself at the Marine. The two of them tumbled to the ground in a ball of flailing limbs, and uncomfortable screams. Once she was disentangled from her new opponent, she struck him with her bo staff; hard and low.

The Marine clutched at his groin, his eyes watering, and fell to his knees, wimpering unrecognisable words. He looked up at Armistice and cursed her beneath his breath, unable to do much more, since she had hit him with so much force.

Feeling sorry for the guy, and about her actions, Armistice decided to release him from his misery and hit him across the head so that he passed out. She walked over to the crew member that she had saved, and examined his wounds. He moaned in pain as she touched the skin that looked as though it had been scorched by a hot flame. His flesh was black and a smokey smell rose from the open wound. Holding her breath, Armistice ripped part of her shirt, and bandaged the wound as much as she could.

The pirate smiled up at her. 'You know, I never liked you until now. I thought that you were just like Tyran, he used to hang off Mihawk as well when he first came to the crew. But Mihawk never really took a shine to him. When you started following Mihawk around, I thought that you would be a jerk. But it seems that I was wrong. You have my appolgies.'

'That is okay.' Armistice responded. 'I have not been all that fair on the crew. I thought that you all followed Tyran, and that he had you all against me. It seems that I was wrong, and he actually was telling the truth when he said that he did not have the crew against me.'

'It seems that we have all made mistakes.' The pirate coughed and surged to his feet, clutching at his wound. 'I don't know what kind of amo they are using, but if I was you, I would watch out for it. The bullets sting like fire. They really hurt.'

Armistice nodded, and then turned to the ongoing battle, to find Mihawk. Upon seeing him, she ran over and helped him knock out another of his opponents. 'Mihawk. There are alot of Marines here, they are multiplying faster than we can take them down. The Shichibukai is sure to be here soon.'

'I know.' Mihawk looked as though he was going to say something more, but there was suddenly a hush throughout the battlefield, and his whole demenour became still and alert. A man wielding a large back sword strapped to his back became visible. The people around him fell back in silent awe, as the man pulled the sword from his back and faced Whitebeard's crew. 'Looks like he is here.'

Armistice stared in deference, but turning back to Mihawk, she realised that he was sweating slightly. A crazed look had come to his eye. He stood still. Not moving an inch. Then without another word he surged forward. 'Where are you going?'

Mihawk did not answer. Instead he positioned himself in front of the newly arrived swordsman Shichibukai. 'Cairn. I hear that you are the best in the world. That no one has been able to beat you. It is said that you hold the title of the ultimate swordsman with the true power.'

So this is the man that Mihawk has been looking for, Armistice thought watching the older man survey the young swordsman in front of him, He is a lot stronger than what I thought. I hope Mihawk knows what he is getting himself into.

Cairn smirked. 'Of course. I have been beaten by no man. I am the best, and I will be for a very long time. Brave men tremble in my presence. I am Cairn! The best in the world!'

Mihawk grinned. 'And that is why I am going to beat you. It is my dream to become the best, and the only way for me to do that is to defeat you in battle!'

Laughing Cairn pointed his sword at Mihawk. 'I admire your courage, but you are a fool to think that you can take me on and win. Though I will honour you with battle. You do not look like the kind of lad that will easily give up.'

Mihawk grinned, and ran at Cairn. Their swords clashed, stopping the whole battle, as Whitebeard's pirates, and the Marines alike, stood around drawn in by the blood thristy scene. Cairn blocked Mihawk's attack easily, and pushed him back with an effortless swing of his black sword.

Holding her breath, Armistice watched the battle with wide eyes, as Mihawk was again blocked. Cairn swung his blade once again, but this time he split Mihawk's chest wide open. Armistice screamed in horror. 'Mihawk!'

Climbing back to his feet, Mihawk readied his sword for his ultimate attack, and then ran at Cairn again. This time he did not survive the clash, and his sword was smashed into a million pieces. Cairn's black sword sliced him up, and Mihawk fell to the ground in deafeat. Finished with his battle, Cairn resheathed his sword, and then turned back towards the sea. 'I have enjoyed our battle Mihawk. Become strong so that I can fight you again on level terms.'

Armisitce screamed in shock and ran over to Mihawk. He was covered in blood, but he was awake and smiling. She helped him to sit up, and then got to work cleaning his wounds as best as she could. Pirates from Whitebeard's crew came rushing over, handing her bottles of medicated liquid to rub into the wounds to help them to close. At least until they saw the ships doctor.

'Next time, you will not be so lucky.' Mihawk said lowly, but Cairn heard because even though he was walking away, he lifted a fist into the air, and his shoulders moved in a silent chuckle. After he had dissapeared from the battelgrounds, Mihawk let his weight fall into Armistice's arms, and closed his eyes. He was exhausted from his recent battle.

Smiling in relief, Armistice handed Mihawk to a couple of male pirates, so that he could be carried to the back of Whitebeard's army of pirates, and then later, when the marines were defeated, to the ship. 'Sleep well my friend. you have acheieved quite a lot in this battle.'

As the overwhelming presence of Cairn faded, the opposing teams got their wits back. The Marines got to their feet and surged towards the pirates, who in turn got to their own feet, and ran towards the Marines, not scared of the head to head clash that was sure to ensue.

The pirate that Armisitce had saved only moments before Mihawk's battle with Cairn, walked up beside her. He shook his head at the approaching Marines, and shifted the weight of his weapon on his shoulder. 'This should be an interesting match up shouldn't it? With Cairn gone, the Marines don't stand a chance.'

Smiling slightly, Armistice turned to smile up at her companion, Jake. 'Of course, Whitebeard's crew outranks those stupid Marines anyday. We won't have much trouble getting to the ship now. And all as we have to do is lure them out to sea. Then they will be on our territory.'

'Aye.' Jake laughed. 'But do not count your victories too soon. We still have to get passed them before we can say that we are safe. Watch your back.'

Happiness surged through Armistice as she smiled and watched Jake leave to join the battle. Holding her breath, she ran to the back lines of Whitebeard's pirates, and located Mihawk. Taking a breath, she walked over to kneel beside him.

Mihawk opened bleary yellow eyes when he felt her presence. He grinned. 'You look as though you have seen a ghost. Now why are you here? I have trouble believeing that you are here to ask me to asist you in the battle. But if that is your wish, I will very quickly oblige.'

Armistice shook her head, and gripped Mihawk's strong warm hand. 'I am not here to ask you to asist in the battle Mihawk. Not in your present condition. I simply came to make sure that you were feeling alright, to make sure your wounds had not bled too much more.'

Mihawk cocked a brow at her. 'The doctor has been to see me. He stitched my wounds up. What did you think was going to happen? Did you think that I was going to have to wait until we got back onto the ship?'

Confronted with her fears, Armistice's face went red. She had not thought that he knew what she was thinking. She had forgotten that the doctor was with them on the battlefield. Carefully Armistice watched Mihawk from underneath her eyelashes. 'I was just worried.'

Mihawk rolled his eyes. 'Then don't be. Hurry up and get out there to the battle. Otherwise I will have to force myself to join in!'

Eyes wide, Armistice turned and fled from her friend back to where the fight was happening. She could not believe that, even with his injuries, he was eager to join in the fighting. He was half dead, and he acted as if he had just woken up a little later than usual. Clutching her bo staff to her chest, she willed herself to be strong. If not for anyone else; for Cali, Rori and Mihawk. They were the ones that she was there to keep safe, and this time she was not going to give up.

The battle was still raging two hours later when the sun shone high above the sky. Whitebeard's crew had steadily gained ground. The Mairines were becoming more weary of them, as they had discovered that if they got too close, the pirates would not care how they shot them down.

Armistice could not feel her fingers. They were numb against the wood of her staff, and fatigue seeped through every muscle. She had spent the better half of the battle, running back and fourth from the front lines to the back. She had been checking on a frustrated Mihawk, who was ready to fight, and get back to sea so that he could train for his goal. She had started to give up hope that they would ever reach their ship.

As the Marines slunk back, the main town of Tortic island came into view. The docks stood out like a sore thumb, and in the midst of them was Whitebeard's large ship. It had not even been touched by the Marines, and sat as if it was waiting for them to board it.

Lightheaded, Armistice laughed. She had thought that they would be fighting for a lot longer before they ever saw the docks again. She did not think that there would ever be a more welcome sight then the ship, standing in the dock.

Whitebeard's men gave a scream of triumph, and Mihawk made his appearance at the front lines, next to Armisitce. He grinned at her and unsheathed a sword that he seemed to have borrowed from one of the Marines. 'Are you ready to fight?'

'Mihawk, you should not be here! Your wounds will re-open!' Armistice hissed. 'We have not long to go, and you will not be able to survive through this encounter. Why can't you be patient?!'

'Shh relax. I know my limitations.' Mihawk grinned. His golden eyes flared, and he cut down a Marine that had charged straight for Armistice. 'You're not very popular are you? They're all going for you.'

Pouting, she play punched him on the shoulder. 'I have destroyed a lot of their men. I really like this bo staff that you got me. It is very good to use.'

'I am glad. Now lets get to the ship!' Mihawk said, stepping forward to take out three more marines. 'Follow me. If anything, you are the one who is too tired to do anymore fighting. I will back you up. Don't you worry about it.'

Sighing Armistice, stepped forward to stand beside Mihawk. She was determined to show him that she could fight and she was not ready to back down, no matter how tired she actually was. 'I am not going anywhere Mihawk. I said that I would fight to make sure that Cali and Rori were left in peace. And I am not going to give up until we are so far out to sea, that the Marines have forgotten all about this island, and our presence here!'

'Very good.' Mihawk laughed. 'It seems that you have finally grown a spine. It's funny what having a goal will do to you. But once we do save them, what are you going to fight for then?'

*

Armistice watched the ship grow ever closer. She held her breath, and hit yet another Marine over the head; knocking him unconcious. 'There are so many of them. But we are so close Mihawk!'

'Keep your cool. Do not try to rush towrds the ship. If we do, then we will leave ourselves open for mistakes. And that is something that we can not afford.' Mihawk gritted his teeth, and sliced another Marine with his sword. 'We need to get rid of these Marines.'

Armistice felt adrenaline run through her viens. She wiped off the sweat that had formed on her forehead, and gripped her bo staff tighter again. 'We are so close. I am not going to blow it, but I wonder how long it will take us to get to the ship. Surely the marines have figured out our motives by now. I mean they are dense, but not stupid.'

Mihawk laughed. 'You have no idea how right you really are. They have one of the best spy systems that will ever be found in this world. And besides that, they are rutheless. Just like pirates.'

'Just like pirates?' Armistice raised an eyebrow at her companion. 'I don't think that they have as much fun as what we do. They seem too serious to break out and have a little bit of a laugh and dance. Pirates are not afraid to let loose.'

Two marines chose that moment to surge forward, and engage in fighting with both Armistice and Mihawk. They both fought with swords. The man that had chosen to attack Armisitce stabbed towards her stomach with his sword.

Armistice barely blocked him with the horizontal length of her weapon. Gritting her teeth, she tried to move her staff, but found that she was stuck. Unable to attack with her arms, she brought her knee slamming into his stomach. Poking her tongue out at him, she rammed the point of her staff into his back when he bent from the impact to his stomach. Blood spattered over the legs of her jeans as it exploded from the Marine's mouth. Armistice looked at the forming stain in disgust.

'I am surprised that you have remained so clean during this fight. Usually rookies like yourself are covered in blood during the first five seconds of battle.' Mihawk cut of another Marine that lunged himself at Armistice. 'Take Tyran for instance. He is already soaked in blood. I just do not know if it is his opponent's or his own.'

Shuddering slightly, Armistice moved closer to Mihawk. She raised her arms, eventhough they felt like they were filled with lead, and brought her staff crashing down once again. Her actions had been repeated so much that day, she felt as though they were automatic. 'I did bleed. I have been hit a couple of times. I just do not want to have blood dripping all over me. It is distracting so I patched myself up a couple of times. It's no big deal. I don't have a big fat ego like Tyran.'

Suddenly, Mihawk became very alert. He grabbed Armistice by the wrist, and pulled her to his chest. As a gun shot rung throughout the field, he pulled her to the ground, his body covering her own. The speeding bullet passed over the top of them, and instead took out a dopey Marine, who had just pulled himself back to his feet.

Armistice's heart started to race from the contact with Miahwk. The slight weight of his body made her feel safe. She could feel the steady beat of his own heart. It made her relax, because he was not worried about the events going on around him. Quietly, she nudged him with her arm. 'We should probably get up, otherwise we will be easy pickings for the Marines.'

Mihawk grinned, and pulled her up to her feet. His arms let go of her waist, but he stood protectively in front of her; much like a body gaurd. 'This fight is almost over. Let's go back to the ship. We should start to get everything ready so that everything goes smoothly when we all board the ship.'

Regretful at the loss of contact with Mihawk, Armistice nodded her head. 'It would be a good idea. We want to get out of here as quickly as possible. And it looks as though we are not going to be able to do that very easily.'

'Watch your back. Once they find out what we are up to, the Marines are going to try to stop us with all the force that they can muster.' Mihawk took hold of her hand in his powerful grip. 'So that you do not lose sight of me, I will keep hold of you. We must stick together, as we are going into enemy lines.'

Armistice's heart fluttered from his touch, and a heat spread through her. She blushed lightly from the contact and his concern. 'I will make sure that I keep up. I will keep you in sight at all times. If I get stuck in enemy lines, then I am not going to be able to escape.'

'Exactly.' Mihawk murmured, leading her further towards the ship. They ducked and weaved through the fighting troops, passing seemingly unknown. Mihawk kept a firm grip on Armistice's hand the whole time. His unnerving eyes flicked around the battefield, ready to spot trouble before it even came.

Heart pumping painfully in her chest, Armistice did not even notice that they were being followed. She simply clutched at Mihawk's hand, and followed him blindly. Tapping Mihawk lightly on the shoulder, she whispered quietly. 'Do you think that we will have a run in with anyone?'

'Just promise me that you will keep quiet as we go in.' Mihawk said, his tone was almost sarcastic. 'They will target you, because you are the weakest person that is close to them. They want their job to be easy, and by getting you, they think that Whitebeard will back down and maybe surrender.'

Nervously, Armistice tightened her grip on his hand. Her stride widened a little to match his, and soon they were very close to the ship. 'Mihawk we are being followed.'

'We have been followed since just after we started towards the ship. Ignore them, and keep moving.' Mihawk commanded. He did not stop, but instead half-dragged her towards the ship. 'If we stop now then they will get suspicious and know that we are on to them. There is a chance that they will not even attack us.'

Fear played havoc with Armistice's nervous system, and she found herself shaking uncontrollably. The knuckles on the hand that held Mihawk's, were white. She clenched her teeth together in stress. Her every movement seemed to take a thousand years.

'Duck.' Mihawk pushed Armistice ruoghly to the ground as a steak of ice tore through the air towards them. Once it had passed he pulled her to her feet, and nudged her forward slightly. 'Get to the ship and start to get it ready. This marine is someone that you do not want to go up against. Stay away, and I will deal with him.'

Armistice nodded fervently, and started to run towards the ship. Stopping for a moment she turned to look back at the fight between Mihawk and the random Marine.

The Marine was only very young, but he was a clear match for Mihawk. He shot ice from his hands, but just when it looked as though he would engulf Mihawk, he missed. Mihawk was too fast for him, and attacked him with the sword that he had found. He never managed to hit the Marine either, as everytime he brought his sword downwards, it was blocked by a sheild of hard ice.

Armisitce watched the battle with her breath caught in the back of her throat. She had never before seen a fight between two men that were so closely matched. Shaking her head to clear her jumbled thoughts, she turned back towards the boat. Straightening her shoulders, she began a fast walk towards her destination.

A nearby Marine that had been watching the fight between his comrade and Mihawk, smiled. He had long black hair, and cunning black eyes. He followed Armistice for a while, and then once he was certain that she had not noticed his presence, he lunged forward. He hands locked around her body, one keeping her mouth shut so that it was impossible for her to call out to her crew mates.

Terror pumping adrenaline around her body, Armistice kicked backwards at the restraining body. He was too strong for her, and kept her body held firm. When she tried to scream and alert Mihawk, her captor cruelly sqeezed the hand that was over her mouth, pushing his nails into her cheeks.

'Stay still, and quiet, and no one will get hurt.' The Marines voice was rough, and very deep as he whispered into her ear. 'If you come with me, then your crew can go free. We will be able to get them later on, but right now it is better that you go to impel down. You stupid pirate.'

Armistice struggled against him in alarm. She tried to bite his hand, but she could not force her mouth to open. Despiration made the panic seem all the more real. She could see Mihawk still fighting, he was not all that far away.

'He will not be saving you now little miss.' The marine cackled. 'You will be coming with me, and he will not even notice that anything has happened until he arrives on the ship to find that you are not there. It's a good thing that we had a diversion set up isn't it? Otherwise we might not have gotten to you. Even wounded Mihawk is as vicious as a wild predetor.'

Guilt replaced her initial fear, and Armistice found herself becoming limp in her captors arms. She heard him chuckle, and she could see everything around her, but she could not move her body. She watched as Mihawk's intent figure became smaller and smaller as she was carried away. She could not call out to him, her mouth felt floppy, and her tongue felt furry. She coud not even twitch a finger.

Hearing a slight noise from the back of her throat, the Marine man laughed. 'Do not worry, we will be back at camp soon enough. Then we can take you back to the execution sites. Though you will be joined by a couple of your comrades. One captive just won't do the job. And if I was you, I would not waste my energy trying to move. You're paralysed, so it is not going to work.'

Armsitice felt the tears slide down her face, but she was powerless to stop them. When they reached the Marines camp site she was thrown roughly to the ground next to another man that was obviously paralysed. Her eyes met up with his, and then widened in recognition. They had Tyran.

Another Marine walked towards them, and threw another body into the fray. This one turned out to be the pirate that Armistice had saved earlier that morning, Jake. Quietly he reached out a hand and grabbed her on the wrist. His thumb stroked up and down her skin for a moment, before he pulled his hand back away to hold a finger to his lips; indicating silence.

Relief spread through Armistice, and the dread did not feel like it was a dominant factor in her life at that moment. She gave up trying to move, and let her body relax for a moment. Her eyelids dropped closed, and she fell into a very short and very fitful sleep.